HOW MARK TWA1MWAS MADE

"By

GEORGE WHARTON JAMES

from

NATIONAL MAGAZINEFEBRUARY, 1911

By GeorgeWhartonJames

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h Ranwraa Country." "The Heroes of California."The California Birthday Book," "The Wonders of the ColoradoDesert, "In and Out of the Old Mansions of California " etc

"T the time of their endurance,most men would forego thehardships of life for somethingeasier. Yet the experiences of

the ages teach that it is the difficultiesand obstacles of life overcome that developor "make" the man. Necessarily manythings go to the making of any man,especially if he attain to eminence in anywalk of life. Many factors are to be considered, such as heredity, natural temperament, the environments of early life,the force of exterior circumstances, thefortuitous arrangement of things andevents of which the man of genius is ableto take hold and mold to his own purpose. And by no means least in its importance, if his work is for the ficklepublic, is the factor of his striking sucha vein as is permanently popular, and constantly satisfying.Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known only

to the world, however, as Mark Twain,first saw the light of day November 30,1835, in the hamlet of Florida, Missouri.At this time, in the whole region westof the Mississippi River, which now con-

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tains thirty millions of people, or more,there were less than half a million whiteinhabitants. St. Louis was the only citywest of the Mississippi and it had no morethan ten thousand inhabitants.

In this great and wonderful westernland, with its possibilities scarcely be

ginning to dawn upon its people, andwith the great Mississippi River close athand, Mark Twain lived his early life.His father died when he was twelve yearsold and all the scholastic education hereceived was given him prior to thattime. Henceforth the world was to behis school, college and university, and itis another evidence of the power of untrammelled genius that Mark Twainwon from the greatest universities of theworld the highest honors for his attainments in literature, without having studiedin any of them.As his biographer has well said: "It

is fortunate indeed for literature thatMark Twain was never ground intosmooth uniformity under the scholasticemery wheel. He has made the worldhis university, and in men, and books,

493387

iHOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

ar^: strange rjjlaces^ -.and. all the phasesof ari infinitely varied life, has built an

education broad and deep, on the foundations of an undisturbed individuality."

For a short time he assisted his brother

Orion as printer s devil in a newspaperoffice where he learned to set type. Hefilled up his spare time by wanderingwith his village companions, and aboutthis time he had been pulled out, in a

nearly drowned condition, three timesfrom the "Father of Waters and six

times from Bear Creek.When he was eighteen years of age,

words that Mark Twain himself used todescribe the responsibility and the ex

tensive training of the faculties of ob

servation and memory essential to the

making of a pilot to realize how absurdsuch a charge must be.What a schooling for a young and im

pressionable boy with an undevelopedand powerful genius unconsciously alertto take in impressions, his profession

disciplining his memory to retain allthat varied, wonderful, large and picturesque life on and about the MississippiRiver which he afterward so wonderfully

A TYPICAL RIVER STEAMBOAT WITH WHICH MARK TWAIN S NAME WILLEVER BE ASSOCIATED

the "wanderlust" struck him and for atime he rambled through the Eastern

States supporting himself as a trampprinter. Then for a time, he lived in St.

Louis, Muscatine and Keokuk, until 1857,when he persuaded one of the most noted

Mississippi River pilots. Horace Bixby,to teach him the mysteries of steamboat

piloting.

In the fact that Mark Twain submittedhimself to the tremendous discipline neces

sary to this task is the best proof of his

inherent love of work. He always accusedhimself of laziness, and I have heardscores of people re-echo the charge, but

one has only to realize the full force of

reproduced in "Tom Sawyer." "Huckle

berry Finn," "Pudd n Head Wilson" and"Life on the Mississippi."

In 18(11 this part of his life closed forever.

The Civil War broke out and ruined

steamboating on the Mississippi. Livingin the South, his sympathies were naturallywith the Confederates, although his brother

Orion was already a somewhat prominentNorthern politician. For a short tinu-.

Mark served in a company of Missouri

rangers, and he afterward made his ex

ploits at that time the occasion for an

article full of good-natured humor pointedat himself and his companions. He was

captured but escaped, and his brother

HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

Orion, having received an appointmentas the secretary of the new territory ofNevada, he was invited to accompanyhim, doubtless as an effectual plan of

removing him from the possibility of anyfurther mischief.

Mark s account of the overland stagetrip across the plains is one of the most

painstaking and truthful pieces of literarywork he ever accomplished. There isnothing in literature comparable to itas an absolutely accurate account of thatwonderful eighteen days stage ride. Itforms the chief part of the first volumeof "Roughing It," a book full of hiswestern experiences. It will ultimatelybe used as an historical and literary textbook in every Western school, collegeand university that wishes to preserveto its students the memory of those remarkable and heroic days "when therewere giants in the land."When the brothers arrived at Carson

City, Nevada, Mark found his duties nil,and his salary ditto, so he was easily induced to visit one of the mining campsnot far away and there try his hand at afresh venture. Now began a new lifeas large, wild, open, picturesque, ruggedand fantastic as had been his life on the

Mississippi. It was ultimately to leadhim into California and across the Pacificto the Sandwich Islands and thus addanother tremendous treasure of materialto his observing mind and fecund genius,to work up into stories and books of

exquisite flavor for the delectation of theliterature and humor-loving epicures ofthe world.

Yet here began some of the sternerelements of Mark Twain s making. Itwas on the Pacific coast that not onlywas his genius awakened, but his manhood aroused, fortified, strengthened andset definitely upon the path upon whichhe ever afterwards faithfully and de

votedly walked. As Browning eloquentlyputs it, it was a fierce "dance of plasticcircumstance," and the wheel of life uponwhich the Divine Potter placed him"spun dizzily," so it is not to be wonderedat that his, as yet, unawakened mindwould have been glad to arrest it and

escape.

Times were hard in the new mining

camp, and Mark and his partner accomplished little. With his newspaper experience he naturally gravitated to thelocal newspaper office, which he oncein a while favored with an original contribution. At last he ventured to sendoccasional items to the Territorial Enterprise at Virginia City, then edited byJoseph T. Goodman, who is still livingin Oakland, California. Goodman wasa man of keen and unerring literary instinct and immediately recognized inhis unknown correspondent ,a man ofpower, so he invited him to come andtake up regular work upon the paper.One day he was surprised by a young

man, wearing a dilapidated hat, miner soveralls, hickory shirt, and heavy clumping shoss, carrying a roll of dirty blanketson his back, walking into the office, witha quaint drawling salutation to the effectthat he had "come according to instructions duly received." It took a littletime for Goodman to realize that therough and uncouth-looking miner was thecorrespondent upon whose letters he hadbegun to base high literary hopes.And there it was on the steep slopes

on Mount Davidson, above the wonderfulComstock lode, so that mines were themain subject of business, recreation, conversation and endeavor, he began theliterary career that was ultimately tomake his name as familiar as householdwords, give him a large place in the heartsof many millions of people and establishhis fame forevermore.

Associated with him were Goodman,Rollin M. Daggett and William Wright^known to ths world as Dan ds Quille.Nearly thirty years ago, when I went toVirginia City, I learned to know Wrightwell, and now and again he would getinto a reminiscent mood and tell storiesabout Mark. One story hs always enjoyed telling and chuckled considerablyover was about the time when Mark sassociates presented him with a meerschaum pipe that he much coveted.One day there was exhibited in one of

the store windows of the camp an elaboratepipe, of German make one of thoselarge, carved, old-fashioned pipes that

brings before you a picture of a Dutchburgomaster with his stein of beer on the

HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

table at his elbow. Mark saw this pipeand coveted it. As he and Dan went to

lunch, Mark would stop, and in his slow,drawling fashion, comment on that pipe.But the price one hundred dollars

placed it far out of reach.

Mark was an inveterate smoker, andhe had the vilest, worst-smelling pipe in

Virginia City, and though printers are

not, as a rule, squeamish about such

things, this pipe was a little too muchfor them, and they always spoke of it

as "the remains." So, putting this and

that together, Wright saw a way of gettingrid of "the remains," playing a good jokeon Mark in return for jokes in which hehad been the victim, and giving "the

boys" some fun. Dan was "no slouch ofa wag" as they used to say of him in

Virginia City. This was the scheme he

concocted :

Someone in town was found who madea dummy copy of the pipe Mark coveted,but fixed it in a way that it would fallto pieces melt in places and the bowl

split whenever anyone attempted to use

it. This pipe was to be given to Mark

by the "boys of the printing office" as

a surprise. They were to give him a

dinner or something of the kind, and

Dan was "let into the secret," so that onthe "strict Q. T." he might whisper it

to Mark, in order that the latter mightbe ready to respond with a bright and

witty speech, which, delivered as a purely

extemporaneous effort, would "bring downthe house."

Mark fell into the trap as innocentlyas a "sucking duck" to use Dan s ex

pression, and on the appointed night,when the work on the paper was all

done, the boys from "the rear" and the

reporters and writers from "the front"

went over, with a good deal of solemnityand respect, to where the spread was

laid out. After dinner, when all were

feeling good, one of the party made the

presentation speech. He talked aboutthe wearisome, brain-racking work of

journalism, and the long hours of labor

under the silent, serene stars of the mid

night sky, when all the rest of the world

was sweetly wrapped in profound slumber,

enjoying well-earned rest. Then he stole

a few ideas (in advance of publication)

from Barrie s My Lady Nicotine, anddashed off into a flowing eulogy of the

soothing effect of tobacco upon the ex

hausted and wearied brain, and, as a

final crash of eloquence, spoke feelinglyand touchingly of the happy and cordial

relations that had always existed be

tween the news department and the

composing room, and hoped that noth

ing would ever occur to -sever the silken

ties, etc., etc. Then, amid loud applause,he handed Mark the thirty-cent fraud.Of course, Mark was taken entirely bysurprise, and he was delighted in the

extreme, and "too much moved to sayanything." He seemed to be "knockedinto a cocked hat," but by and by he

pulled himself together, and began his

carefully prepared extempore speech. Hethanked the boys for their gift it had

touched him deeply he would ever retain it as a pleasant souvenir of manyhappy days, and especially this day, one

of the happiest of his life. Then, and here

was what the boys cheered, he went on

to speak of his old pipe, told how it hadbeen the solace of many lonely hours,had come with him across the plains,etc., but this new and handsome giftfrom friends he had learned to love made

parting from it easy, and this had been

suggested by Wright as a brilliant and

dramatic climax to the extemporaneouseffort therefore, he would cast it away.

And, suiting the action to the word, he-

threw it out of the window, and then

invited the boys to "take something with

him."

They accepted, of course, and filled

Mark full with their naive and openexpressions of joy at his fine speech.

How delighted they were with it, andhow they congratulated him upon his

great gift, and wondered "how on earth

he could do it." "What a wonderful

gift it was, and how they envied him,that he could get up on his feet and make

so bright and witty a speech off-hand,"

etc., etc., ad libitum. Mark took it allin at its face value and was tickled and

nattered from top to toe, for it has never

been denied that he had the ordinaryman s vanity and love of approbation,and all went well as a marriage bell.

Mark, however, wanted to try his

HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

pipe, and there was the rock upon whichthe conspiracy came near splitting. Theconspirators did, however, persuade himnot to "spoil his new pipe" then, but waituntil he got home. He was finally helpedhome in a cab, and three or four of themost interested and most sober waitedoutside his door to hear the fun.

But when he got to this part of thestory, Dan for a time could never getany further for laughing.Mark charged and lit the pipe, and

it was not long before the expected happened. The bowl split open from stemto stern, and the whole thing fell apart,and the peeping conspirators heard himgrowling to himself in phraseology thatwas neither fit for a Sunday-school booknor for the pages of this reputable familyjournal, while he petulantly brushed thehot ashes from his clothes and writingtable.

He never said a word to a soul aboutthe pipe or whatever became of it, andnone of the boys ever said anything to

him, but the joke was on them, for the

following day, when he appeared at theoffice, he had "the remains" in his mouth.

They had forgotten to remove it andMark had gone out, hunted it up andrestored it to its old place in his favor.Dan says Mark was never "real genial"with him from that time.

It was while he was in Virginia Citythat he wrote two satires or burlesquesthat, when one understands their localapplication, are excruciatingly funny.They are both included in his "SketchesNew and Old" and one of them, "ThePetrified Man," is a never-ending sourceof delight to thousands. There had beena great craze for digging up petrifactions and other marvels, and as Marksays: "The mania was becoming a littleridiculous. I was a bran-new local editorin Virginia City, and I felt called uponto destroy this growing evil; we all haveour benignant fatherly moods at one timeor another, I suppose. I chose to killthe petrifaction mania with a delicate,a very delicate satire. But maybe it wasaltogether too delicate, for nobody everperceived the satire part of it at all. I

put my scheme in the shape of the discovery of a remarkably petrified man."

In the account written for his paper

he stated, with all the circumstantialityof detail that the conscientious reportershows, how that the petrification had beendiscovered at Gravelly Ford, about onehundred and twenty-five miles away,over a breakneck mountain trail. Hehad had a quarrel with the Coroner, sohe determined to make him ridiculousby telling how he had impanelled a juryand they had visited the scene of the dis

covery, held an inquest on the "remains"and returned a verdict that the deceasedhad come to his1 death from protractedexposure.

The whole thing was a screaming burlesque from beginning to end, and if anyone had read carefully he would haveseen from the description of the postureof the hands of the petrified man that itwas so. But the thing was done so ingeniously that nobody "tumbled," andthe result was that Mark s petrified manwent the rounds of the press of the civilized world and finally came back to himfrom the London Lancet.

If one has not read "The Petrified Man"and has any sense of humor in him, thesooner he gets to it, the better.Soon after he arrived in Virginia City

he was sent to Carson City as the paper scorrespondent from the territorial legislature which was then in session. It washere that his peculiar humor first beganto be noticed, for personalities were thefashion in those days, and Mark s weresingularly effective if irritation and angerare a proof of effectiveness.

Many things that Mark wrote for theEnterprise are worth republishing andsome day, perhaps, some indefatigablesearcher will hunt them out and give themto the world. Here is one, however,quoted by Mrs. Ella Cummins-Mighelsand her comments thereon: "In hiswork upon the Enterprise was a bit ofliterary criticism which has passed intoa familiar saying, to be handed downfrom father to son, and mother to daughter.Upon the death of Lincoln many obituarypoems sprang into print, among them onewhich took the fancy of Mark Twainwho set it off thus:

Gone, gone, gone,Gone to his endeavor;

Gone, gone, gone,Forever and forever.

6 HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

"

This is a very nice refrain to thislittle poem. But if there is any criticismto make upon it, I should say that therewas a little too much gone and notenough forever. And to this day it isused as a case in point relating to a superfluity of any kind."A man whom Mark became very fond

of was Jack Perry, the deputy sheriffof the camp in the early days, when itwas common to have a "man for breakfast" every morning. Jack was a tall,good-natured, shrewd-witted, humorous

fellow, totally unacquainted with the

meaning of the word "fear," and a worthyfoil for Mark s peculiar style of wit. Itwas Jack who told several of the storiesthat appear in "Roughing It" and alsowas the author of the "Blue

Jay" storyto which Mark devotes a whole chapterin "A Tramp Abroad." I knew Jackintimately during my seven years ofNevada life and have listened many timesto his interesting recital of this and otherstories with which he used to beguilethe hours when he and Mark had nothingelse to do in Virginia City.

In introducing this story, Mark givesthe following as a sample of the commentsthat led to the story. He gives the nameof Jim Barker to the story-teller and

places the scene in California: "There s

more to a bluejay than any other creature.He has got more moods, and more different kinds of feelings than any other

creature; and, mind you, whatever a blue-

jay feels, he can put into language. Andno mere commonplace language, either,but rattling out-and-out book talkand bristling with metaphor, too justbristling. And as for command of language why, you never sec a bluejay getstuck for a word. No man ever did. Theyjust boil out of him. And another thing:I have noticed a good deal, and there sno bird, or cow, or anything that usesas good grammar as a bluejay. Youmay say a cat uses good grammar. Well,a cat does but you let a cat get excited

once; you let a cat get to pulling furwith another cat on a shed, nights, and

you ll hear grammar that will give youthe lockjaw. Ignorant people think it

is the noise which fighting cats make thatis so aggravating, but it ain t so; it s

the sickening grammar that they use. NowI ve never heard a jay use bad grammarbut very seldom; and when they do, theyare as ashamed as a human; they shut

right down and leave."You may call a jay a bird. Well,

so he is, in a measure because he s gotfeathers on him, and don t belong to nochurch, perhaps; but otherwise he is

just as much a human as you be. AndI ll tell you for why. A jay s gifts andinstincts, and feelings, and interests,cover the whole ground. A jay hasn tgot any more principle than a Congressman. A jay will lie, a jay will steal, ajay will deceive, a jay will betray; andfour times out of five, a jay will go backon his solemnest promise. The sacred-ness of an obligation is a thing which

you can t cram into no bluejay s head.

Now, on top of all this, there s anotherthing; a jay can outswear any gentlemanin the mines. You think a cat can swear.Well, a cat can; but you give a bluejaya subject that calls for his reserve powersand where is your cat? Don t talk to meI know too much about this thing. Andthere s yet another thing; in one little

particular of scolding just good, clean,out-and-out scolding a bluejay can layover anything human or divine. Yes,sir, a jay is everything that a man is.A jay can cry, a jay can laugh, a jay canfeel shame, a jay can reason and planand discuss, a jay likes gossip and scandal,a jay has got a sense of humor, a jayknows when he is an ass just as well as

you do maybe better. If a jay ain thuman, he better take in his sign, that sall."

Two separate stories are told to accountfor Mark s leaving Virginia City. Hisbiographer, Samuel E. Moffett, gives thisas the reason: "At that particular period

dueling was a passing fashion on the Com-stock. The refinements of Parisian civilization had not penetrated there, and aWashoe duel seldom left more than onesurvivor. The weapons were alwaysColt s navy revolvers distance, fifteen

paces; fire and advance; six shots allowed.Mark Twain became involved in a quarrelwith Mr. Laird, the editor of the Vir

ginia Union, and the situation seemedto call for a duel. Neither combatant

HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

was an expert with the pistol, but MarkTwain was fortunate enough to have asecond who was. The men were practicing in adjacent gorges, Mr. Laird

doing fairly well, and his opponent hittingeverything except the mark. A smallbird lit on a sage brush thirty yardsaway, and Mark s second fired andknocked off its head. At that momentthe enemy came over the ridge, saw thedead bird, observed the distance, andlearned from Gillis, the humorist s second,that the feat had been performed by MarkTwain, for whom such an exploit wasnothing remarkable. They withdrew for

consultation, and then offered a formal

apology, after which peace was restored,leaving Mark with the honors of war.

"However, this incident was the meansof effecting another change in his life.There was a new law which prescribedtwo years imprisonment for anyone whoshould send, carry, or accept a challenge.The fame of the proposed duel had reachedthe capital, eighteen miles away, and the

governor wrathfully gave orders for thearrest of all concerned, announcing hisintention of making an example thatwould be remembered. A friend of theduelists heard of their danger, outrode

the officers of the law, and hurried the

parties over the border into California."

The other story is as follows: "MarkTwain made neither money nor fame withthe Comstockers. While his work was

remarkable, there were so many moreurgent things to attract attention that

they had no eyes or ears for literature.Homicides of almost daily occurrence,tragic accidents, sensations in miningdevelopments, surging stock markets, as

Sam Davis puts it, smothered the lesseraffairs of the ledge. But, he continues,One day a thing happened that changedthe whole tenor of the life of the man whois now recognized as the dean of theworld s humorists.

"

Clemens was standing on the cornerof C and Union streets, when a mangydog came up and rubbed its itching side

against Clemens leg." Sam did not move; he merely looked

down and drawled out: "Well, if I vebecome a scratching post for Steve Gillis s

dogs, I d better hit the trail.""

Whatever led him to San Francisco,it is known that he was gladly welcomedby the little coterie of literary Bohemianswho were conducting the Golden Era andhad just launched, under the pilotage ofCharles Henry Webb, The Californian.This included Bret Harte, Noah Brooks,F. C. Ewer, Prentice Mulford, Rollin

Daggett, Macdonough Ford, Ina Cool-

brith, Charles Warren Stoddard, JoaquinMiller, Ambrose Bierce and others.For six months he worked under George

Barnes, the editor of the San Francisco

Morning Call. And during this periodhe wrote quite a number of those shortersketches which were afterward publishedin book form. Among these were "Au-relia s Unfortunate Young Man," "Concerning Chambermaids," "An Undertaker s Chat," etc. One of the most

amusing of his burlesques was after thePioneer s Ball in San Francisco. Follow

ing the fashion of those writers whodescribe the costumes of the ladies whoattended, he brought forth a number of

items, such as the following:

"Mrs. W. M. was attired in an elegantpate de foie gras, made expressly for her,and was greatly admired. Miss S. had herhair done up. She was the center of attraction for the gentlemen and the envy of allthe ladies. Mrs. G. W. was tastefullydressed in a tout ensemble, and was greetedwith deafening applause wherever she went.Mrs. C. N. was superbly arrayed in whitekid gloves. Her modest and engagingmanner accorded well with the unpretending simplicity of her costume and causedher to be regarded with absorbing interestby everyone.

"The charming Miss M. M. B. appearedin a thrilling waterfall, whose exceedinggrace and volume compelled the homageof pioneers and emigrants alike. Howbeautiful she was!

"The queenly Mrs. L. R. was attractivelyattired in her new and beautiful false teeth,and the ban jour effect they naturally produced was heightened by her enchantingand well-sustained smile.

"Miss R. P., with that repugnance toostentation in dress which is so peculiar toher, was attired in a simple white lace collar,fastened with a neat pearl-button solitaire.The fine contrast between the sparklingvivacity of her natural optic, and the steadfast attentiveness of her placid glass eye,was the subject of general and enthusiasticremark.

"Miss C. L. B. had her fine nose elegantly

8 HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

enameled, and the easy grace with whichshe blew it from time to time marked heras a cultivated and accomplished woman ofthe world; its exquisitely modulated toneexcited the admiration of all who had thehappiness to hear it."

It must be confessed that this part ofhis life was neither profitable to him

physically, mentally nor spiritually. Whileit is heresy for me, as a Califomian, to

say so, I do not think San Francisco wasever very beneficial to Mark Twain. Infact, no city ever was. He was nevermade to reside in cities. It was all rightfor him to go there once in a while to giveout what he had received and absorbed,but his life of growth was always spentout in the open, in the large things of

nature, like the Mississippi River, the

great country he had crossed in the overland stage, and the wild, desert miningcamps of Nevada and California.

It was at this time that he was seenone day on Clay and Montgomery streets,leaning against a lamp-post with a cigarbox under his arm. The wife of CaptainEdward Poole, a bright and witty woman,happened to be passing by and, noticinghim, extended her hand with the salutation: "Why, Mark, where are you goingin such a hurry?"

"I m mo-ov-i-n-g," drawled Mark, atthe same time opening his cigar-box and

disclosing a pair of socks, a pipe and twopaper collars.

His next move was to leave San Francisco and go out into the majestic grandeurof the Sierra Nevadas. Here he came intouch with that large life of the minesand quaint humor of the miners whichhe so graphically pictures in his first

acknowledged masterpiece, "The JumpingFrog of Calaveras County."

Fortunately he was no more successfulin the California mines than he was inNevada, and it was on his return to SanFrancisco that this story was written. Awell-known gentleman of San Franciscotells how he came to write it, as follows:

"Sometime in the latter part of thesixties I wished to see R. D. Swain, whowas then the superintendent of the mintin this city. Bret Harte at that time washis secretary. Upon entering the office,I found that Mr. Swain was engaged, and

while waiting for him, Mark Twain cameinto the room. Mr. Clemens had justarrived in San Francisco from Nevada

City, where a few days before he hadwitnessed the most curious jumping contest between two frogs, under the auspicesof their respective trainers and in the

presence of a numerous throng of spectators from all the mining camps around.While Mark Twain was telling the story,Mr. Swain opened the door of his privateoffice and asked me to step inside.

"I remarked, Come out here, Swain,I want you to listen to this!

"Mr. Swain accordingly joined our

circle, and Clemens began his story anew.The story was told in an inimitable manner,and its auditors were convulsed with

laughter. He described the actions ofthe trainers and bystanders, and used

many expressions and colloquialisms whichthey had used. I think the story wasmore laughable as Mr. Clemens told itto us on that occasion than the one whichafterward appeared in print, as the sayings and doings of the trainers and onlookers were indescribably funny. Whenthe story was completed, Bret Hartetold Mr. Clemens, as soon as he had recovered a little from the laughter whichthe story occasioned, and which was

immoderate, that if he would write thataccount half as well as he had told it,it would be the funniest story ever written.Mark Twain took his advice, the storywas put into manuscript form and afterward printed in the Golden Era. It attracted immediate attention, and hasbeen pronounced one of the best shorthumorous stories extant."The "Jumping Frog" at once gained

him fame abroad as well as at home, butthe world was not yet fully awakened tohis ripening genius. The SacramentoUnion then sent him to Hawaii to describe the country and especially thesugar plantations. Some of his lettersat this time reveal his marvelous powerof graphic description. These letterswere so successful that they suggestedthe trip that led to the writing of the bookthat at once placed his fame where noth

ing could ever disturb or shake it. Timeand future work might add to its gloryand luster, but had he written nothing

HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

but this one book he would always haveranked as the world s foremost humorist.One of his best friends in San Francisco

was John McComb, who so thoroughlyappreciated Mark s literary and humorousability that whenever the latter became

despondent and wished to return to hisown occupation of piloting on the Mississippi, he prevailed upon him to remainand stick to his writing.

It was through McComb that he wassent to Hawaii, and it was McComb thaturged the A Ita California to give him thisnew opportunity. A great deal of prominence was being given by the Easternand other newspapers to an excursionthat was being planned to leave NewYork in a steamer named the "QuakerCity," which was to have advantages ofConsular help and letters of introductionfrom the Secretary of State, etc., so thatthe excursionists would be afforded privileges abroad that no general American

party had yet been accorded. The upshotwas that Mark was sent on the excursionas the correspondent of this San Francisco

paper, to which he was to write regularletters as the trip proceeded. Theseletters were published and producedquite a sensation. They were then madeup into the book, "The Innocents Abroad,"which in the hands of an enterprisingpublisher made a tremendous hit, overten thousand copies being sold the first

year.

My father must have purchased oneof these early copies, for I well rememberthe occasion on which I first becamefamiliar with the name of Mark Twain.I have elsewhere told the story as follows:

"It was in England, one cold winter s

night. I was stretched out on a lounge,and near by, my father, near the blazingopen fire, half reclining in his favoritechair made after the style of a foldingsteamer chair was reading InnocentsAbroad. Every few moments I wouldhear a gentle chuckle, or a quiet laughand I knew it must be something veryfunny, when suddenly he dropped thebook, burst out into a loud and long-continued strain of hearty laughter, atthe same time sitting upright and rapidlyrunning both hands through his hair,as he always did when delighted or ex

cited. And I think he was both, for ashe picked up the book and started to read

again, down it would go, for his fit oflaughter would start afresh, and eachfit took several minutes to overcome."Yet in California this book was but

one of three that were all deservedlypopular, and Clemens himself was placedin no higher position as a humorist thaneither of the authors of the two otherbooks. These authors were John F.

Swift, who, the year before, had issued his

"Going to Jericho," and Ross Browne,whose books of travel, published by the

Harpers, had given him world-wide fame.In reviewing Swift s book in one of theearlier numbers of the Overland Monthly,Bret Harte, whose critical judgment fewcould equal, said: "Mr. John FranklinSwift s Going to Jericho is in legitimateliterary succession to Howell s Venetian

Life, Ross Browne s Multifarious Voyages and Mark Twain s Holy LandLetters.

"

(These were not yet publishedin book form). "It is somewhat notablethat three of these writers are Califor-

nians, and all from the West, with the

exception of the first, who has an intrinsicliterary merit which lifts him above

comparison with any other writer of travel.Mr. Swift in some respects is superior."

Elsewhere a fine comparison is madeby Harte of the work of these writersin reference to the "Sacred buildingsand canvases of Europe." He said: "Arace of good-humored, engaging iconoclasts seem to have precipitated themselves upon the old altars of mankind,and like their predecessors of the eighthcentury, have paid particular attentionto the holy church. Mr. Howells hasslashed one or two sacred pictorial canvases with his polished rapier; Mr. Swifthas made one or two neat long shotswith a rifled Parrott, and Mr. MarkTwain has used brickbats on stained-

glass windows with damaging effect.And those gentlemen have certainlybrought down a heap of rubbish."

"The Innocents Abroad" forever deter

mined the career of Mark Twain. Butin the meantime, while it was beingissued, Mark returned to San Francisco,and the tide of prosperity not having yetturned his way and money being "needed

10 HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

in his business," he determined to give alecture. His wonderful combination ofliterary ability and business sagacityis well shown by the unique methodswhich he followed to secure an audience.The following notice appeared in the dailypapers, and was also distributed as acircular all over the city:

HE MEETS OPPOSITIONSan Francisco, June 30, 1868.

Mr. Mark TwainDear Sir: Hearing thatyou are about to sail for New York, in theP. M. S. S. Company s steamer of the 6thof July, to publish a book, and learningwith the deepest concern that you proposeto read a chapter or two of that book inpublic before you go, we take this methodof expressing our cordial desire that youwill not. We beg and implore you do not.There is a limit to human endurance.We are your personal friends. We have

your welfare at heart. We desire to see youprosper, and it is upon these accounts, andupon these only, that we urge you to desistfrom the new atrocity you contemplateYours truly,

(Then followed a list of names of thebest-known citizens of San Francisco,including W. H. L. Barnes, Rear-AdmiralThatcher, Noah Brooks, Major-GeneralHalleck, Leland Stanford, Bret Harte,and concludes with "and 1500 in thesteerage.")

To this he replied and notice howhe begins it "to the 1500 and others."

San Francisco, June 30.To the 1500 and Others: It seems to me

that your course is entirely unprecedented.Heretofore, when lecturers, singers, actors,and other frauds have said that they wereabout to leave town, you have always beenthe very first people to come out in a cardbeseeching them to hold on for just onenight more, and inflict just one more performance on the public; but as soon as Iwant to take a farewell benefit, you comeafter me with a card signed by the wholecommunity and the Board of Aldermenpraying me not to do it. But it isn t of anyuse. You cannot move me from my fellpurpose. I mil torment the people if Iwant to. I have a better right to do itthan these strange lecturers and oratorsthat come here from abroad. It only coststhe public a dollar apiece, and if they can tstand it, what do they stay here for? Am Ito go away and let them have peace andquiet for a year and a half, and then comeback and only lecture them twice? Whatdo you take me for?

No, gentlemen, ask of me anything else,and I will do it cheerfully but do not askme not to afflict the people. I wish to tellthem all I know about Venice. I wish totell them about the City of the Sea thatmost venerable, most brilliant and proudestRepublic the world has ever seen. I wishto hint at what it achieved in twelve hundredyears, and what it cost in two hundred. Iwish to furnish a deal of pleasant information, somewhat highly spiced, but stillpalatable, digestible, and eminently fittedfor the intellectual stomach. My last lecturewas not as fine as I thought it was, but Ihave submitted this last discourse to severalable critics, and they have pronounced itgood. Now, therefore, why should I withhold it?

Let me talk only just this once, and I willsail positively on the 6th of July, and stayaway until I return from China two years.

Yours truly,MARK TWAIN

This letter immediately called forthfurther

OMINOUS PROTESTS

San Francisco, June 30.Mr. Mark Twain: Learning with profound

regret that you have concluded to postponeyour departure until the 6th of July, andlearning, also, with unspeakable grief, thatyou propose to read from your forthcomingbook, or lecture again before you go, at theNew Mercantile Library, we hasten to begof you that you will not do it. Curb thisspirit of lawless violence, and emigrate atonce. Have the vessel s bill for your passagesent to us. We will pay it. Your friends,

Pacific Board of Brokers,Wells, Fargo & Co.,The Merchants Exchange.Pacific Union Express Co.,The Bank of California,Ladies Co-operative UnionS. F. Olympic Club,Cal. Typographical Union

San Francisco, June 30Mr. Mark Twain Dear Sir: Will you

start, now, without any unnecessary delay?Proprietors of the Alia, Bulletin, Times,

Call, Examiner, Figaro, Spirit of the Times,Dispatch, News-Letter, Golden City, GoldenEra, Dramatic Chronicle, Police Gazette, TheCalifornian, The Overland Monthly.

San Francisco, June 30.Mr. Mark Twain Dear Sir: Do not delay

your departure. You can come back andlecture another time. In the language of theworldly, you can "cut and come again

"

Your friemls, THE CLERGY

San Francisco, June 30.Mr. Mark Twain Dear Sir: You had

better go. Yours,THE CHIEF OF POLICE

HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE 11

DEFIANXE TO ALL

The climax of his "innocence" is reachedin confounding the preparation for cele

brating the "Fourth of July," with a

public demonstration over himself. Itwas only "unavoidably delayed":

San Francisco, June 30.Gentlemen: Restrain your emotions; you

observe that they cannot avail. Read:

NEW MERCANTILE LIBRARYBUSH STREET

THURSDAY EVENING. JULY 2, 1868

ONE NIGHT ONLYFARE.WLLL LECTURE OF

MARK TWAINSUBJECT

The Oldest of the Republics, ,,,-.,,,-Fast and Present VENIUE

BOX OFFICE OPEN WEDNESDAYS and THURSDAYSNO EXTRA CHARGE FOR RESERVED SEATS

ADMISSION ONE DOLLARDoors Open at 7 Orgies Commence at 8 P. M.

j?"The public displays and ceremonies proposed tolve fitting eclat to the occasion have been unavoidablyclayed until the Fourth. The lecture will be delivered

certainly on the 2nd and the event will be celebratedtwo days afterward by a discharge of artillery on theFourth, a procession of citizens, the reading of theDeclaration of Independence, and by a glorious displayof fireworks from Russian Hill in the evening, which Ihave ordered at my sole expense, the cost amountingto eighty thousand dollars.

AT THE NEW MERCANTILE LIBRARY, BUSH ST.THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 2, 1868

It is hardly necessary to add that thelecture was a success, financially.Noah Brooks, in The Century, has this

to say of Mark s lecture:"Mark Twain s method as a lecturer was

distinctly unique and novel. His slow, deliberate drawl, the anxious and perturbedexpression of his visage, the apparentlypainful effort with which he framed his sentences, and above all, the surprise thatspread over his face when the audienceroared with delight or rapturously applaudedthe finer passages of his word-painting, wereunlike anything of the kind they had everknown. All this was original. It was MarkTwain."

From this time on fame and fortunesmiled upon him, except on the one occa-tion, when, through no fault of his own,his publishing firm failed and left him a

legacy of a heavy debt. His heroic

shouldering of that debt and final paymentof it stands side by side with the likeheroic achievements of Sir Walter Scott.

His lecturing in San Francisco provedto be so successful that he was prevailedupon in 1873 to give a week s lectures inEngland under the management of GeorgeDolby, who had managed Charles Dickenslecture tour in America. The lectureswere given in the Queen s Concert Hall,Hanover Square, and met with immediateand unbounded success. The engagement was prolonged, with the understanding that there was to be a briefinterval to allow Mark to return to Americawith his wife.

In the meantime the first week s workwas drawing increasingly large audiences,and London was going wild over thelectures of the man whose "InnocentsAbroad" had so tickled their risibles.

^During this very week Charles Warren

Stoddard, one of his oldest San Franciscofriends, reached London, sent to Englandas a special correspondent by the SanFrancisco Chronicle, and the day afterhis arrival, as he walked down the Strand,whom should he meet but Mark Twain?Mark seized him effusively, and scarcelyhad their friendly salutations been passedbefore Mark began to pour out his taleof woe. He was giving these lectures;they were financially successful; he neededthe money and, therefore, was compelledto return to give them. But and herehe became almost frantic. His wife gone,he would be all alone in a great and strangecity, and he would go crazy with theburden of homesickness that was fallingupon him. The sight of his friend hadsuggested a relief to his woes. Therewas a clear way out of his difficulties.Charley must come and be his secretary,his companion, his anything, so that

they could be together and Mark thuslose his homesickness. In vain Stoddard

pleaded his contract with the Chronicle."Never mind the Chronicle. Let themwait a while. I ll pay you as much ormore than they, and all you will have todo will be to sit and listen to me when Italk."

The upshot was, Stoddard finally consented, and when Mark returned thetwo took up their quarters at the Lang-

12 HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE

ham, the well-known London hotel. Here

they were very comfortably located, butMark s peculiar nervousness used to beginto manifest itself every night about six

o clock. He must get ready. They musthurry up or they would be late. Why,why, wasn t Charley ready? At dinner,there was no pleasure in eating, as a fewmoments delay longer than he expected,after giving the order, made Mark frantic.Long before necessary, Mark insisted uponstarting for the hall, and as Charley said:

"I had a most uncomfortable timeuntil I saw Mark walking onto the stage,while the audience clapped its welcometo Mark s invariable habit of washinghis hands with invisible soap and water.As soon as he began with his Ladies and

gentlemen, I was content, and used to

go quietly under the platform by a secret

stairway to the Queen s own box, whichwas never used for any other person.It was, therefore, always kept closed with

heavy velvet curtains, and, as there were

plenty of cushions, I used to put themin order, stretch out and go to sleep, rest

ing peacefully in the assurance that the

clapping of hands of the audience at the

close of the lecture would awaken me.

Then, while Mark chatted with theaudience and wrote his autograph in thealbums of the young ladies, I would hurryback to the stage and be ready, when he

was, to go to our hotel.

"There, with chairs wheeled up tothe fire, with pipes and plenty of Lone

Jack, and certain bottles and glasseson the table, we would sit and chat,hour after hour, of things of the old

world and the new. How the hoursflew by, marked by the bell clock of thelittle church over the way! Almost im

mediately we were seated, Mark would

say: Charley, mix a cocktail! Myreply was always the same, to the effectthat I could not mix a cocktail. It re

quired a special kind of genius which I

did not possess, and so on. But Markalways insisted and I always yielded,while he slipped off his dress suit and

shoes, and got into his smoking jacketand slippers. At the first sip he invariablytwisted up his lips as though in disgust,smelled of his glass, looked at it, held

it up between himself and the fire, and

then reproachfully gazed over towardme: What have you against me, Charley,that you concoct such an atrocious mixture as this? Of all the blim-flimmed,

hoggelty-poggelty, swish-swash I ever

drank, this is the worst. I ll have to mixanother to take the taste of this out of

my mouth."Yet he always drank the whole of

.what I had mixed except, of course,what fell into my glass and after wehad had one of his mixing, and had chattedfor an hour or so, I had to mix another.He complained of this and drank itand then mixed one himself to take

away the taste of mine, and so it wenton. One two- three in the morning,chimed on a set of holy bells, and stillwe sat by the sea-coal fire and smokednumberless peace-pipes, and told droll

stories, and enjoyed our seclusion."But there is a limit to the endurance

of even a human owl, and I finally wouldget sleepy. And the funny thing wasthat the moment I began to get sleepyand talk of going to bed, Mark grew lonesome, homesick and lachrymose. As Iundressed he would come and chat in

my bedroom; as I got into bed he wouldsit down on my bedside, and by thistime he had worked himself up into a fitof pessimistic depression which invariablytook one turn. It was to the effect thathe could clearly see ahead to a time whenhe could write no more, could not lecture,and then what would he and his familydo for a living? There was nothing for it

tears Charley, but the poorhouse.He could see that clearly enough, hewould have to die in the poorhouse.

"To comfort him was impossible, and,"said Mr. Stoddard, "I used to go to sleep

night after night with that wail of woein my ears that Mark would die in thepoorhouse.

"At last his engagement concluded in

London, and we went here and therein the provinces, and finally reached

Liverpool. We had a great night there.He was to sail the next day. Dolby(his manager) had been with us all the

time, but had to leave that night for

London, where he had a score of urgentmatters demanding his attention. SoI was left alone to see Mark off. That

HOW MARK TWAIN WAS MADE 13

night we made ourselves as comfortableas we could in the hotel, but instead ofhaving a gay parting night, his doleful

forebodings seemed worse than ever. I

got into bed, as usual, and Mark cameand sat by my side, and I was just aboutto drop off to sleep when, with a vigor andvim he seldom used, he sprang up andexclaimed: No, by George, I ll not diein a poorhouse. I ll tell you what I lldo, Charley, I ll teach elocution!

"This awoke me, and I made somecomment, when he broke in upon meand asked, Ever hear me read, Charley?I answered No! He then rang the belland when the nightwatchman appeared,he asked in a most solemn voice, yetusing words scarcely applicable to thesacred character of the book, for a copyof the Holy Scriptures. In a few minutesthe boy returned, saying that he couldnot find a copy. Mark turned upon himwith a mock ferocity that was as funnyas anything he ever said in public, or

wrote, and in apparent temper, wantedto know what he meant by daring tocome and tell him that in that blankety-blank hotel he could not find a copy of the

blankety-blank Holy Scriptures."In amazement, the boy returned to the

search and soon came back with a copyof the desired book, and then, for overan hour, I lay as one entranced. Youknow, I have heard all the dignitariesof the Roman and English churches. Ihave listened to the great orators of

Europe and America, but never in mylife did I hear anyone read so perfectly,so beautifully, so thrillingly as Markread that night. He gave me the wholeof the book of Ruth, and half the timenever looked at the page; and then someof the most exquisite passages of thebook of Isaiah. Few people knew it,but he was more familiar with the Bible,and loved it better, than many of theprofessional religionists who would havedeemed him far from a follower of itsholy precepts."

This is the real version of Mr. Stod-

dard s story. He gives a briefer, a slightlydifferent, and a fully expurgated one inhis chapter, "A Humorist Abroad," inhis "Exits and Entrances."

It was to his friendship with CharlesWarren Stoddard, the California poetand litterateur, that the world owes oneof the finest pieces of biography everwritten and certainly Mark Twain smasterpiece, from a literary standpoint.I refer to his "Joan of Arc." I have toldthe story elsewhere and cannot repeatit here, but it seems to me that the American people have not yet arisen to the mightand power of this wonderful story. In itMark has put all the passion and powerof his life. It is the sweetest, tenderest,most sympathetic, appreciative and yetsane and forceful piece of writing he everdid, and it gives one such a vivid pictureof Joan of Arc that, forever, after readingthe book, she stands forth to the readeras one of the illuminated personalitiesof literature, as well as of the world s

history. If you have time to read butone book through this year, let that bookbe "Joan of Arc."

Hence it will be seen that Mark Twainreally began his literary life in California.It was a Californian who prevented hisleaving the field of letters, when, disheartened with his want of success in SanFrancisco, he wished to desert it. It wasSan Franciscan friendship that gained himthe opportunities which enabled him to"make good" to the world of literatureand established his fame. It was California and the great West that filled hissoul with that large, vast, wide comprehension of things that has given his humorso broad a philosophy. It was Californiathat first assured him of a welcome on thelecture platform, and it was Californianinfluence that, when all others had failedto encourage him to try serious work,finally overcame all obstacles and pointedout the way for the creation of his literaryand biographical masterpiece to which Ihave so imperfectly and inadequatelyreferred.